Samia's favorite part of the internship

I love everything about the internship! It's hard to make a decision on my favorite thing to do. From the people and children to handling the animals - it's all just wonderful. The visitors have had a huge impact on my experience here. It's great to leave knowing that I've taught the guests new things about the wildlife of South Carolina.

By dealing with the different animals, I've become even more patient. I look from the animal's perspective: "Wh-wh-what is that? No, get away from me! Aaaah, the huge hand is going to get me!" When getting an animal, I make sure that I'm calm before taking them on the floor. I've noticed that if I'm jumpy even for a second, the animals squirm.

I've had numerous interesting experiences here. When at the touch tank with Maisa, I saw a piece of shrimp in the filter. After picking it up, Maisa took a closer look and says, "Uh, that's poop.". After an internal moment of disgust, I put it down and got sanitizer. Looking back, it was pretty funny.

I'm definitely going to miss my internship here.

-Samia